Dive Brief:
- Michael Pearson, CEO of Valeant, has admitted miscalculating his approach to buying Allergan, which was eventually bought by Actavis for $66 billion at the end of 2014.
- Pearson said he wrongly believed that no other company would come in and attempt to buy Allergan, according to reporting by FiercePharma.
- Valeant was also undone by its inability to communicate effectively about its approach to R&D, Pearson said. This allowed Allergan to characterize Valeant as a research-averse organization.
Dive Insight:
The aphorism "hindsight is 20/20" holds true in this case. Not only is Pearson evaluating his company's missteps with respect to the quest to buy Allergan, but Valeant no longer plans to team up with actvist investor Bill Ackman (though Pearson noted that he was a solid and honest partner).
There has been speculation that Valeant may make an offer for Zoetis, an animal health firm, but Pearson noted that his company currently has "no interaction or contact with them."